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Portables (Apple) Businesses Apple Hardware

Apple Slashes PowerBook Prices 193

Posted by pudge from the make-room-on-the-credit-card dept.
theloki42 writes "Apple has slashed the prices of the PowerBook G4 line, with the lowest now costing a measly $1599."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Apple Slashes PowerBook Prices More

Apple Slashes PowerBook Prices

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  • Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)

    by bpb213 ( 561569 ) <bpbyrne@gmaGIRAFFEil.com minus herbivore> on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:41AM (#6094809)
    Damnit.! They had to go do that a month after I bought mine.

    (got a 12", love the little sucker. So small and light, goes with me everywhere)

    • Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Informative)

      by RedWingsSuck ( 644332 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @10:16AM (#6096011) Homepage
      I was told, by an Apple Store employee, that you could get the discounted price, if the unit was purchased within 30 days of the price cutting.

      • Re:Obligatory (Score:3, Informative)

        by mgrochmal ( 567074 )
        Either the employee misunderstood, or the policy has changed. Here's what Apple [apple.com] has to say:

        Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment.

        I'm not sure which one is right, though.

      • that's true... i *thought* it was 30 days, but i just found this:

        Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment

        i found that right here [apple.com] under the "Prices" section. i am 99% sure i heard 30 days too, but

      • Similarly, if you buy a system and then Apple upgrades the product line within 30 days, you can upgrade to the new model instead - in fact, Apple will (apparantly) not ship your order if you purchase a few days or whatever before they unveil a new line, so that they can ship you the new one instead.

        --Dan
        • Unless, of course, they're doing what they're doing right now with the 15" TiBooks. What are they doing? They dropped the price so that they could get rid of them. I highly doubt Apple would drop the price on a product they're end-of-lifing, then not ship it to you so that you could instead get the new 15" AlBook.

          Maybe any orders that come in after the Ti's are all sold will get the Al instead.
        • Thats a little different. This would be them sending you a check, or charging your visa for less.

  • not bad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Blob Pet ( 86206 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:43AM (#6094825) Homepage
    I'm no fan of Apple by an means of the imagination, but $1599's pretty decent and a heck of a lot more affordable than a tablet.

  • How about the rest of the world. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:47AM (#6094855)
    Unfortunately the Australian PB prices still seem to be as high as they ever were. Not only has out dollar climbed in value against the US since the PB12 was released, and Apple have dropped the price of the PB12, we should be seeing some awesome savings, like with the eMac and iBook, both of which recently dropped quite a bit.

    I'm looking buying a new mac soon. It would be tempting to go for a PB12 if they dropped as much as they should in price.,

    • Re:How about the rest of the world. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by questamor ( 653018 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:19AM (#6095106)
      Holy crap there's a disparity there.

      $1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc.

      Still, the Australian base powerbook12 is $3995. $1500+ difference.

      bah!

      • Same on the flip side of the planet. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by thatguywhoiam ( 524290 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @09:11AM (#6095445)
        $1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc.

        We're experiencing the same thing in Canada - because of the recent plunge of the US dollar versus our own, prices should have dropped... but they haven't. Apple gear in Canada still costs approximately 10% more than it should, at the current rates.

        Now, I have some sympathy as Apple Canada/retail stores probably had to buy all that stuff at the old rate, but still.. I certainly won't buy another Mac until they adjust this discrepancy (and said Mac model starts with the letter 'G' and ends in '5').

      • I'm going to be going down to Melbourne from the states in a month or two... if you need help with smuggling, give a yell.

        adam at addaon dot com
      • Its the same for Europe...

        Check out these prices:
        • 15" Combo US: $1,999.00 UK: $3,101.26
        • 15" Superdrive US: $2,599.00 UK: $3,588.84
        • 12" Combo US: $1,599.00 UK: $2,285.31
        • 12" US: $1,799.00 Superdrive UK: $2,530.07

        Its even worse if you are paying in Euro's rather than GBP.

        I could grab a plane ticket to NY, stay in a nice hotel for a couple of days, watch a show on broadway, buy a powerbook and still pay less than I would from Apple UK.

        I really want to switch but not at these prices...

        • Did you look before the updated the UK store prices?

          The 15" Combo goes for UKP 1599 (about USD 2620). Also remember that the UK prices include VAT. If you were to buy a Powerbook in the States and bring it back, you would need to pay customs and VAT (or equivalent).

      • Here the base powerbook is CHF 2999.- which makes it $2230.- US. My sister lives in Sydney, and I'm well aware of the huge price differences in Australia, so if some folks club together to get some swiss Powerbooks and buy me a ticket to OZ, then bob's your uncle.

        Offer's also open for Germany(Berlin) and the UK.

      • "$1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc."

        Still, the Australian base powerbook12 is $3995. $1500+ difference.

        You were a little too quick for them. The Australian Apple Store [apple.com.au] has since updated following the price drops, and a base 12" PowerBook is now $3099.

        Sure, that's still a huge markup of over $600, but it's not quite the $1500 figure you came up with.

    • Honest question:
      Why don't you just buy one "unused" via eBay, or some other US reseller?

      Seems like they could mark up 5% and everyone would be WAY ahead...
    • The rest of the world will probably follow in the next few days. It almost always takes a while for the international sites to be updated. And regarding your dollor comment: they did slash the Canadian prices [macnn.com] a lot more than the US prices, so I expect the same for other countries.
    • If you look now, they just dropped all their prices - the 12" is now $3099, $900AUD less than before, and the other books seem to have dropped that much also.
    • Look, I sympathize, but you can hardly blame Apple (or America) for the exchange rate, for VAT, and for other nations' import tarriffs.

      And this works both ways, you know. Our idiotic government won't let us have broadcast HDTV until 2006, amost 20 years after it was first invented ... in Indianapolis!

  • Education Prices (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pirogoeth ( 662083 ) <mailbox@i k r u g.com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:48AM (#6094863) Homepage Journal

    If you're eligible, the Education Store has them for only $1499!

    • Re:Education Prices (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If you're eligible, the Education Store has them for only $1499!

      And check your university for deals: mine threw in a 10 GB iPod for free. (Though they made you buy AppleCare, but I was going to buy it anyway.)

    • Re:Education Prices (Score:4, Informative)

      by illusion_2K ( 187951 ) <[slashdot] [at] [dissolve.ca]> on Monday June 02, 2003 @11:11AM (#6096446) Homepage

      Another strategy, that I'll be using myself shortly, is to join the Apple Developer Connection (for about $100) as a student and then use their hardware seeding program, which gives you about 10-20% off your first hardware purchase with them.

      Plus, the program has a bunch of developer tools and other discounts included. It's certainly wortha look.

      • Re:Education Prices (Score:3, Informative)

        by MoneyT ( 548795 )
        Another plus of that program is your bi-monthly copy of OS X shipped to your door. Waiting to see what happens when X.3 ships, but if it comes free, the developer membership is a keeper.
      • Another strategy, that I'll be using myself shortly, is to join the Apple Developer Connection (for about $100) as a student and then use their hardware seeding program, which gives you about 10-20% off your first hardware purchase with them.

        Hate to poop on your parade, but I don't think you will be using that strategy.

        NOTE: Please note that

        the ADC Student Program Membership does NOT include access to the ADC Seeding Program, Technical Support, or the ADC Compatibility Labs. If you require these progr

  • G5? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Are upgraded Powerbooks with the 970 already on the line of being announced, or is this just because they expected their sales to be larger?

    • Re:G5? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Znonymous Coward ( 615009 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:23AM (#6095137) Journal
      If you are informed enough to ask a question like that, you shouldn't have to ask a question like that. Anyway, the rumor mill has been going full steam after months of, well, nothing. Here is the latest...

      RIP G4??? [envestco2.com]

      G4 iBook??? [macrumors.com]

      Yes, conflicting reports... But it's always safe to assume that when Apple lowers prices, their main goal is to clear out inventory for a new or updated model.

      • Re:G5? (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Uh. When Apple lowers prices, it's because they want to sell more units. Why, exactly, they're looking to sell more varies depending on the circumstances, but on several occasions Apple has lowered prices in the middle of a model's lifespan for no other reason than to drive sales. Consider the way Apple lowered the price of the G4 iMac by $100 for no apparent reason several months ago. (Of course, they had to later raise that price by $100 again when LCD prices spiked back up, but that's life.)

        The only thi
        • I think that's pretty insightful... However, I still believe that the primary driving force behind price drops is to eliminate excess inventory for updates that are coming down the pipe "sometime".

    • Re:G5? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by johnpaul191 ( 240105 )
      it's kind of odd that the 15" has not been updated to match the other G4 powerbooks, seeing how the other books have been out for months now. i wonder how true that assumption is about massive backstock of 15" powerbooks. Apple rarely has more than a few weeks worth of stock. they give these figures in their quarterly earnings reports. there is no way they had 6 months worth of 15" powerbooks sitting on the shelves. i think there are a few obvious possibilities:

      either they are waiting to leapfrog the 12" a

  • Upgrades pending? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jeff Kelly ( 309129 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:51AM (#6094894)
    Seems to me like Apple is going to upgrade some of their Powerbooks in the near future. 15'' PBs are nearly sold out and are hard to get.

    I have been waiting for a very long time now for Apple to upgrade the 15'' PB to an AI Model with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. But now it won't probably be long until I get my PB and iPod. (My precious)

    Regards

    Christian

  • Dammit! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by DiSKiLLeR ( 17651 )
    This has eroded the resale value of my powerbook even further!

    The 667mhz powerbook simply doesn't sell at all on ebay.com.au anymore :(

    What do us people with old powerbooks do?

    I want to finance a nice sexy 15.4" Aluminium PowerBook (coming out real soon) or a nice PowerMac PPC970 (G5?) Tower, with 64bit Panther :)

    D.

    • Re:Dammit! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Mikey-San ( 582838 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:13AM (#6095061) Homepage Journal
      "What do us people with old powerbooks do?"

      Um, use them?

      "I want to finance a nice sexy 15.4" Aluminium PowerBook (coming out real soon) or a nice PowerMac PPC970 (G5?) Tower, with 64bit Panther :)"

      I also want $UNANNOUNCED_PRODUCT! :-D

      (These jokes may not be as funny as I think they are. The coffee pot's still churning this morning.)
      • verdict: not bad.

        the coffee is not neccessarily making you unfunny, but it definitely isn't helping your anxiety and paranoia.

      • Re:Dammit! (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        No, they're pretty funny. The old "I will represent an abstract idea by a shell variable" thing is old hat, though. It would have been funnier if you'd just flamed the bastard for being too wedded to the rumor sites. See, I would have said something like this:

        "And while I'm at it, I want a pony."

        See? Much funnier.

    • Maybe you should simply keep using your powerbook...who the hell looks at a laptop as an investment? Hello?

    • Yellowdog Linux for your old Macs an option... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SYFer ( 617415 ) <syfer AT syfer DOT net> on Monday June 02, 2003 @10:16AM (#6096013) Homepage
      "What do us people with old powerbooks do?"

      Well, one suggestion might be to give it a new, longer period of usefulness by loading Yellowdog Linux, but that strategy may well not suit your needs as you may require certain OS X apps.

      In my case, I primarily use a current generation tower with OS-X loaded--this is needed for my work. I also happen to have an old G3 Firewire laptop laying around that is about to go Yellowdog. Since it only has 128 megs of RAM, its not really a good candidate for OS X (and I won't put any more money into it at this point).

      It is currently doing duty as my "legacy" OS 9 machine and I use it to run the 2 or 3 remaining pesky OS 9 apps that I have not/can not upgrade to OS X. And I no longer even care to run "classic" on my main machine.

      The minute those apps are no longer needed, that old laptop will get a new lease on life running Yellowdog which does very well with older Macs. Then I'll be able to run more meaningful apps like GIMP (and hopefully even filmGIMP).

      This is a great solution because instead of becoming increasingly meaningless (OS 9) or redundant (and underpowered) as an OS X machine, it will now fulfill a unique and useful roll in my studio.

      To find out more, visit hwww.yellowdoglinux.com of course.

    • Re:Dammit! (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 )
      Well I am still using my 667mhz PowerBook as my primary computer. I will probably use it for a couple more years. Then Ill probably make it a low end server and/or a digital picture frame [slashdot.org]. The 667 mhz systems may not be speed deamons. But they are still pritty formatible systems, and I havent ran into an application I cant run yet. Computers have an average 4-5 year usabile life to them. Compared to a Cars average 10-15 years, Houses 100+ Year Life, A Refridgerator 15 Year life. So with a Computer afte

    • Re:Dammit! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tres ( 151637 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @01:12PM (#6097633) Homepage
      Still using my 400 MHz G4 PowerBook & still loving it more than I ever did any of my PC laptops--no matter how fast they were.

      It feels so good finally being content with something.

      I look back to the foolishness of my former self with pity; I was never satisfied with my laptop. Somehow I thought that new hardware or a new OS would fix my problems. Somehow I kept at this for years, searching for the right laptop. I became a computing nomad--jumping from laptop to laptop, thinking that maybe my issues would be solved with the latest hardware. And jumping from OS to OS--from Windows to Suse to Debian to Mandrake to OpenBSD to FreeBSD... on and on. I couldn't find anything that really fit my needs.

      I find that it wasn't really speed I needed all those years I was on the MHz treadmill--it was just a computer that worked the way it was supposed to.

      I'm quite happy with what I have, and for the first time, I know I'll be using a computer until it dies its natural death. For the first time I can concentrate on getting things done rather than that gaggle of concerns and problems I had to think about before I could even start a project.

      So, I've found out first-hand what people with old PowerBooks do--a lot more than people with old PC laptops.

      • heh. (Score:4, Funny)

        by thatguywhoiam ( 524290 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @03:14PM (#6099303)
        Still using my 400 MHz G4 PowerBook & still loving it more than I ever did any of my PC laptops--no matter how fast they were.It feels so good finally being content with something.

        --

        "My name is Tres, and I'm never buying another Mac again."

        "Okay, okay, cut!... we're going again. Writers, get over here."

        "What did I say?"

        • I find it interesting that a part of the whole paradigm of consumer computing is that you should have to buy the same thing again in two years or less. GM used to operate under this same paradigm--you probably don't remember, but back in the olden days, you were lucky if you got a car to last 80k miles. You were expected to buy a new car every 2 years--not only because it was a "status symbol," not only because there was a new one with "better" features, but because the darn thing wasn't dependable after 2
          • At some level, I groan whenever I see these comparisions of operating systems and platforms based on analogies relating automobiles. Then again, since those were the other disruptive technology of the twentieth century, I suppose some analogies may be warranted. Want to hear one I came up with myself? I knew you would.

            Windows/x86 is just like a model T ford. Ever see film footage of the busy intersections of cities during the twenties, when the T was at its height? Practically every single car is a mo

  • So now... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gropo ( 445879 ) <groopoNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:03AM (#6094983) Homepage Journal
    An extra $300 gets you video spanning, AltiVec core, DDR (extra 128 Mb), 802.11g port and Bluetooth... Oh and teh sheckshy Aluminium case.

    Makes you wonder why the Combo Drive iBook is still $1,299 base...

    • I guess Apple was tired of the iBook undermining 12" PB sales...?

      Notice that the price drop is only for the 867MHz models? Maybe the 1GHz G4 is soon going to be the new low end?

    • Re:So now... (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Well, the 12" doesn't have a DVI connector, either.

  • Down From What? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by nanobug ( 446693 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:39AM (#6095234)
    What price were they before?

    • Re:Down From What? (Score:5, Informative)

      by questamor ( 653018 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @09:16AM (#6095485)
      While the article doesn't mention it, macnn's story on the price drop does.

      The prices are:

      12" Combo drive PowerBook - $1,599 ($200 drop)
      12" SuperDrive PowerBook - $1,799 ($200 drop)
      15" Combo drive PowerBook - $1,999 ($300 drop)
      15" SuperDrive PowerBook - $2,599 ($200 drop).

      Nice drop on the 15" combo drive powerbook.
      • These prices make no sense.

        It's $200 to go from Combo to DVD on the 12"

        It's $600 more to do same on 15"?!

        What are the other differences?

        • Re:Down From What? (Score:4, Informative)

          by doce ( 31638 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @01:00PM (#6097479) Homepage
          the $600 difference between the two 15" powerbooks is not just the drive.

          for $1999, you get
          867MHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, no airport, combo drive

          for $2599, you get
          1GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB hard drive, airport, superdrive

          so.. faster processor, more ram, bigger drive, wifi, and better optical drive.

  • New chips soon? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Synistyr ( 529047 )
    So is this in anticipation of the new Apples using a PowerPC chip from IBM? Or is this that only for desktops?
    • Apple have bought CPUs from IBM for years. The modern example is the G3; most of the later G3 models are from IBM. The current iBook still uses an IBM G3.

      You're obviously talking about the PowerPC 970, but if Apple use that it will not be the first time they've sourced chips from IBM.

    • Re:New chips soon? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by kalidasa ( 577403 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2003 @12:13PM (#6106827) Journal
      Noone knows yet what machines the 970 (the new IBM chip expected to replace the Motorola G4) will be used in first. There's been some speculation that all G4s will be replaced by 970s at the same time because the 970s are cheaper, other speculation that the PowerMacs would be the first, followed by PowerBooks then by iMacs, and yet other speculation that it would be PowerBooks first.

  • For even better deals check out their refurbs (Score:3, Informative)

    by Mean_Nishka ( 543399 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @01:21PM (#6097749) Homepage Journal
    Whenever I'm in need of a new Mac, I generally purchase them from the 'special deals' link which is generally towards the bottom of the store page. There you'll find a rotating stock of refurbished Apple machines, from desktops to powerbooks, available at a nice discount (with a full 1 year warranty).

    If you don't need something absolutely brand new, check it out. I got my girlfriend a 700mhz ibook (with CDRW) last Christmas for about a grand.

  • in the end (Score:3, Insightful)

    by McAddress ( 673660 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @01:57PM (#6098129)
    It won't even matter whether Apple is competitive with the PC world. The mac users will always buy macs, and PC users will never be able to be cconvinced that
    • OS X is better than windows.
    • RISC chips outperform CISC chips, even at much slower speeds.
    • Macs are just way cooler than windows machines.
    In the end, it sucks for mac users, b/c if Apple had 20% market share, their prices would be lower, and we could buy more songs from the Apple music store with the money we save.
    • I would buy a Mac right now if they had more computer games for Mac OS.

      I agree with everything you said, though... but MS has really got me by the balls when it comes to games.

      At least Blizzard usually releases their games on Mac, but that's not enough for an addict like me! ;)

      P.S. Anyone here have WC3 for Mac? What are your system specs and how well does it perform for you when there's a ton of units on screen?

      • WC3 is playable but awfully slow on my iBook - but I've got a 2001 model with the 8 meg Rage Mobility video chip.
        • that's actually pretty impressive, since it is rather sluggish on my p3 850 with a geforce3 and 256 MB of ram

          The last Night Elf mission is really slow for me. How do the game menus perform for you? Before I got the GF3, they were far less smooth. But that's about all the GF3 did to help the performance over the TNT2. What it really wants is a new CPU.

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